Controlling the spread of diseases within a health care environment, such as a hospital or clinic, requires constant vigilance. Contagion removal, such as washing the hands with agents that kill disease spreading contagions, is one widely used method of preventing the spread of disease. Another widely used method of preventing the spread of disease includes shielding the health care provider from the disease contagions through the use of gloves, masks, goggles and shielding garments.
The shielding method is preferred when attempting to prevent the spread of such deadly diseases as acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). During the ordinary course of providing health care to patients, health care workers are placed at risk of contacting blood and other bodily fluids when performing routine health care services such as drawing blood samples and giving injections. In addition, used hypodermic needles, which can carry small amounts of contagion carrying blood, also pose the risk of sticking and infecting health care workers. Because AIDS can be spread by contact with the blood of a person infected with the disease, health care providers are routinely at risk of exposure to the disease. It would be a benefit, therefore, if a device were available which shielded health care workers from exposure to patient blood when routine procedures such as injections and blood tests were performed. It would be a further benefit if the device was inexpensive, disposable, covered the hypodermic needle both before and after the hypodermic needle was used, covered the insertion site of the hypodermic needle for a period before and after the hypodermic was inserted into and withdrawn from a patient, and was usable in conjunction with a variety of syringes and blood drawing devices.
Below is a list of U.S. Patents which are exemplary of attempts to provide such a device.
______________________________________ U.S. Patent No. Inventor ______________________________________ 5,322,516 Brugger 5,312,368 Haynes 4,898,588 Roberts D-307,474 Cook ______________________________________
U.S. Pat. No. 5,322,516, to Brugger discloses a safety needle system and method for using the same including a needle apparatus and an access site assembly for use in delivering and withdrawing fluids from a patient in a safe and effective manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,312,368, to Haynes discloses a shield for protecting the needle of a syringe. The shield has a connector for connecting the shield to the syringe with the connector preferably being generally annular and adapted to fit over the base of the needle. The shield includes at least one protective arm hingedly mounted upon the connector and pivotal between first and second positions. The first position is the normal position wherein the protective arm conceals the needle and the second position corresponds to the protective arm being pivotally displaced to expose the needle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,898,588, to Roberts discloses a hypodermic syringe splatter shield for preventing high-angle back splatter, from syringe lavage, into the user's face. The splatter shield comprises a preferable circular sheet of stiff material which is preferably colorless and transparent, having a central tube which is attached thereto and which passes through the center of the sheet and projects on at least one side of the sheet sufficiently to have one end adapted to receive a standard hypodermic needle.
U.S. Design Patent U.S. Pat. No. 307,474, to Cook discloses a syringe shield having a tubular passageway therethrough. One end being flared and having an aperture through the sidewall thereof. The other end being tapered.
None of the above described devices satisfactorily provide the above described desirable features.